The Alaska Logs: Eight Days in the Great White North

[urbanemonkey]

Carrie (my_bootay) and I just got back from a faaaaaaantastic trip to Alaska in late August. Okay, so “just” was like a week ago. Whatever. Everybody thought we were nuts for going so late in the season, but it proved to be a smart move in some ways (bugs; nooooo bugs) and a dumb one in others (food; nooooo food). Here follows the chronicle of that trip, as

Comments

fantastic wasn't it?

[cephyn]

Given the choice between alaska and hawaii, id probably go back to alaska. and i've never been to hawaii. alaska is just unreal.

did you catch that all the residents in whittier live in just 2 apartment complexes? and they have tunnels going to the school since the weather is crap in whittier? and i thought i grew up in the worst whittier on earth. silly me. i can't imagine living there before that tunnel was open to cars!

the bug thing...i dunno, i didn't get bit once the whole 10 days i was up there. my friend, eaten alive. seems they're picky, or something.

ALASKA RULES.

Re: fantastic wasn't it?

[urbanemonkey]

I am TOTALLY going back. I must make the trip all the way up to Prudhoe Bay and throw a rock (or myself) into the Arctic Ocean, just to say I did.

Re: fantastic wasn't it?

[cephyn]

People up there sure are different...
We had this one tour guide/bus driver in Denali - he had this weird half-canadian accent...Jeremy Nelson...The best was when he would talk about mountains...swear to god, he pronounced it Mooooontain. Say it, its fun. Mooooontain. He was totally deadpan in everything. He stopped the bus to show us a tree that looked like a dinosaur. His favorite funny to tell was how he was an avid birdwatcher: "There are 250 species of bird in noooorth america, and of those toooooooooo hundred and fifty, i've seen about a hundred, and of those hundred, i've probably eaten about 60." He apparently owns acres of land, off the grid, with a black bear den a quarter mile from his front door.

Weird.

Oh and I ate at the Overlook in Denali - but they had a full menu. ;) I want a pet glacier.

Re: fantastic wasn't it?

[urbanemonkey]

We experienced three bus drivers. The first was a woman who used to be a school bus driver and this was her first summer as a shuttle driver for the park. The second threw candy at us as he drove away down the road. The third was named Gray Barr (i'm 99% sure of the name); with her, we saw oodles of animals. BUT! Nobody said "moontain." THat's damn funny.

Did you take a nature tour (tan bus) or a shuttle (green bus)?

[urbanemonkey]

I figured that much out, just by reading the associated English translation. I hadn't bothered to look it up, but i was pretty sure "gonflable" was more or less equivalent to "inflatable". still, that doesn't detract from the joy of shouting "GONFLABLES!" at unannounced intervals.

[irrazione]

This, this is the entry that single-handedly kicked the ass of the entire blogs of certain people on your friends list...

[urbanemonkey]

as in, "kicked ass" in a good way? as in, wiped the proverbial floor with my wordsmithery? or as in "QPQEOPTKELTKHLCANTHANDLETHEPICS!!!111111"?

[bightchee]

I hate that all the ice and snow in the photos have this brown glaze on them like day-old snow along side a busy street. Great photos, however. I'm jealous.

[urbanemonkey]

The brown glaze is dirt. Glaciers are all very dirty. I don't know why, but they are. Must be their constant proximity to rocks and stuff. Or maybe, like cream cheese, ice just turns brown with age.

(it was also the dead of summer; i'm sure they're more sparkling after a good heavy snow. but "good heavy snow" means "sub-freezing temperatures" and jessica + arctic frost don't mix)

[my_bootay]

Glaciers are actually constantly moving. The dirt and debris they pick up and destroy along the way is why they are so dirty. They are always dirty, in winter they are just covered by snow.

Geology 101 courtesy of the Red Vine Queen.

I am also midly upset that you did not use my favorite pic of your face after eating the red vines....

[urbanemonkey]

Heh. Forgot to upload that. *YOU* can upload pictures yourself, you know.

Ha!

[sirloins]

The look on Carrie's face when she's locking the door of the car is priceless. :)

BTW, I'm in town for a while. Just got in yesterday.

Re: Ha!

[urbanemonkey]

I'm in Albuquerque. How long are you visiting?

Re: Ha!

[sirloins]

I have vacay until the 15th of October, but I'm thinkin' of roadtrippin' up the west coast. We'll see.